But the depiction is in itself a mode of thought. If I have a story depicting a character doing something morally distasteful, then going to sleep in her beloved's arms, that can be interpreted as a condoning of the actions, no?
But people who do morally distateful things are still people. It is entirely possible and very believable that someone would do exactly that. It seems that you're asking to sacrifice realism for the sake of moralising. Like, can we only show people doing bad things if they get punished? Can only perfectly good people be happy? (Never mind that perfectly good people don't exist.)
Two of my favorite films in recent years are Closer and Match Point, both of which are basically tales of people being extremely selfish and making morally questionable decisions. I love them because to me they feel very real. People are fucked up. (I would say more about Match Point in particular, but I don't want to spoil the ending.) One of my current favorite manga series is Death Note, which has a protagonist who is essentially the bad guy, yet you want to root for him. I don't for a minute think the author wants me to see Light as being good. He's a cold-hearted murderer. But I think it's making the series a lot more interesting than it would be if it were told from the POV of the people trying to catch him.
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Date: 2006-05-19 08:20 am (UTC)But people who do morally distateful things are still people. It is entirely possible and very believable that someone would do exactly that. It seems that you're asking to sacrifice realism for the sake of moralising. Like, can we only show people doing bad things if they get punished? Can only perfectly good people be happy? (Never mind that perfectly good people don't exist.)
Two of my favorite films in recent years are Closer and Match Point, both of which are basically tales of people being extremely selfish and making morally questionable decisions. I love them because to me they feel very real. People are fucked up. (I would say more about Match Point in particular, but I don't want to spoil the ending.) One of my current favorite manga series is Death Note, which has a protagonist who is essentially the bad guy, yet you want to root for him. I don't for a minute think the author wants me to see Light as being good. He's a cold-hearted murderer. But I think it's making the series a lot more interesting than it would be if it were told from the POV of the people trying to catch him.